Julien de Rosa / AFP
The peloton of the Tour de France female, during the sixth stage between Clermont-Ferrand and Ambert, on July 31, 2025.
SPORT – “Not having your period is not normal. »» Guest Wednesday July 30 at the microphone of France TV Sport at the end of the fifth stage of the Tour de France female, the Brestoise Cédrine Kerbaol has a message to convey.
When she had just finished 13e From this disputed stage between Chasseneuil-du-Poitou, which welcomes the Futuroscope, and Guéret in the Creuse, the cyclist has chosen to alert on what she considers a danger: extreme thinness among the athletes of the peloton, “Whether in men as in women”.
“The goal is to achieve prevention and alert, and to tell women that not have your rules, it is not normal, and that beyond fertility, there is also an impact on bones and a risk of extreme injury”, explained Cédrine Kerbaol, tenth in the general classification before the stage of this Thursday, July 31.
“We are in a dangerous moment”
A graduate of a BTS in dietetics, the 24 -year -old sportsman recently created with other teammates of the Tour de France women the Instagram Feed account (Fueling for Endurance, Energy and Durability). Helped by health professionals, they wish to raise awareness about the dangers of extreme thinness in professional cycling and, more generally, on eating disorders.
“Before being athletes, we are also women and our health counts for now, but it counts for the future too. If you want to start a family, have children, have a solid body and bones, you have to worry about our health now ”added Cédrine Kerbaol to France Télévisions.
Earlier in the day, the runner had also alerted to an interview with Humanityby emphasizing the role of model that sportsmen and sportsmen can play. “What is happening there is not terrible. We are in a dangerous moment. There are many people who have won large races with a very light weight and, indirectly, the young girls who try to perform will take them for example. »»
“I like to enjoy life and eat well”
Cédrine Kerbaol also warned the tendency to want “Progress faster, stronger, having more watts, being lighter …” « Except it’s a process all that. In recent years, it is very fashionable to count each gram on the plates. We must not fall into a form of dehumanization and infantilization ”she warned.
She refuses to give in to this trend. “I have never weighed anything because before being a cyclist, I like to enjoy life, I like to eat and have a normal life. I listen to my sensations ”she assured, before adding that she did not think that “Following calculations helps climb well”. “The ideal is to have a good balance, to have a global knowledge of nutrition and your body, and to feel good in your head. »»
A message « formidable » According to doctors
Questioned by AFP, the doctor of the Cofidis Mathieu Muller team considers that the message of the best young (white jersey) of Tour 2023, is « formidable ». “Whether it’s a runner who launches the alert, it has much more impact than if it came from a doctor”he pressed.
“A too low fat mass leads to what is called the sports triad, that is to say the energy supply deficit which leads to the absence of rules and then to osteoporosis”he explains. A problem that men do not have. One should not be surprised if, one day, a runner fractures the cervicals and finds himself paraplegic, is alarmed another medical source. “The consequence is bone, digestive, cutaneous and psychiatric problems, such as depression”notes Doctor Muller.
For doctors interviewed this Thursday by AFP, runners can be sharpened for a few weeks, but beyond a certain duration it becomes “Very problematic” From a medical point of view. According to them, the runners should therefore set two or three objectives per season and the rest of the year take absolutely a few pounds “If we put on the long term”.
Between her victory during Paris-Roubaix and the departure of the Tour, the Frenchwoman Pauline Ferrand-Prévot said she lost four kilos. “But the more it is absolutely not possible”said the Olympic mountain bike champion on the eve of departure.
The doctor of another team interviewed by AFP pleads him to impose a minimum fat mass, while challenging the International Cycling Union (UCI) to set up a protocol.
